Basketball

HARDWOOD HEROES

Join us for non-stop College and NBA Basketball action, nearly every night of the week, for seven months straight – and you can definitely call yourself a Hardwood Hero. From intercepting the inbound pass, to running the fast break, to slam dunking and beating the buzzer, we have College and Pro basketball covered better than anybody else in the country. We can be heroes, for more than just one day.

NBA Basketball – ATN Season Access Pass

NBA Basketball – ATN Weekly Access Pass

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Specialist: Ken Thomson

Bio: Ken Thomson, owner of SportsXRadio in Las Vegas, is a veteran sportscaster of more than 25 years and has become a recognized authority due to his expertise in all major sports, specifically College Basketball, College Football, and The NFL. He provides versatility with his extensive knowledge and savant-like memory.

Thomson gained experience in the NCAA world, calling games for UC Riverside and Long Beach State. He has tremendous relationships with many college coaches and broadcasters at over 50 universities nationwide. Ken worked with former NFL veteran Bob Golic for over 4 years in several Southern California markets and was recently recommended by renown bookmaker, Jay Kornegay of The Westgate Las Vegas, to serve as the Vegas Insider for ESPNU and ESPN on The Edge and Katz Korner television shows.

With Ken’s extensive knowledge, experience, and relationships in the College Sports arena – along with his ability to speak with experts on the scene via his radio show, Thomson is the perfect fit for the Specialty Sports Group as its College Football, NFL, and College Basketball aficionado.

Specialist: Basketball Guy

Bio: “Basketball Guy” earned his name after putting together a fantastic season on the college hardwood in 2015-2016, amassing a positive ledger of over 30-units. A professional bettor for all of his adult life, Basketball Guy was hand picked by former owner and now Race & Sports Director at SouthPoint, Chris Andrews, to be the hoops specialist for Against The Number. With his documented prowess for the college game, we have added “Basketball Guy” to our team of College Football specialists.

Specialist: Marc Lawrence

Marc began handicapping professionally in 1975. He developed a love for the profession as a student in high school, where he met his beautiful wife and have been happily married with one child (Marc Jr.) since.

Achievements in handicapping: Through countless hours of hard work, determination, and his trusted database, Marc has been fortunate enough to win more documented Top 10 Handicapping Achievement Awards than anyone in the nation (over 500). More recent accomplishments include 8 winning seasons in last 9 years combined on the NFL and College Football gridiron (suffered first losing season in nine yearsin 2016). As a result he also had a string of 10 consecutive winning seasons in the NFL snapped last year as well. In addition he established an NFL season-long record going 28-9 during the 2014 regular season campaign as documented by the Sports Monitor in Oklahoma. Other top achievements include winning the 2008 Playbook Football Wise Guys Contest and the No.1 ranking in NFL Win Percentage in 2008 (by SPORTS WATCH in Las Vegas), Playbook Football Wise Guys Contest Best Bet Champion in 2007, No.1 ranking NFL Win Percentage (by SPORTS MONITOR in Oklahoma City) in 2006, and No. 1 ranking in College Football in 2005 (by SPORTS MONITOR in Oklahoma). Marc was also fortunate enough to win the prestigious STARDUST INVITATIONAL FOOTBALL CONTEST in 2005. In addition, and was named HANDICAPPER OF THE YEAR in 2005 by FOOTBALL NEWS. He reached the semifinals of the 2006 LEROYS MONEY TALKS CONTEST and the quarterfinals of the 2007 LEROYS MONEY TALKS CONTEST. in addition he also managed to establish a personal best 16-game win streak in MLB prior to the 2011 All-Star break.

Marc hosted both a weekly television and radio show called Marc Lawrence Against The Spread for 10 years in the late 1990’s. He currently writes a weekly NFL column for the USA TODAY Sports Weekly and has authored thousands of articles, while illuminating on the fact that three primary forms of sports handicapping exist. Those are Fundamental, Statistical and Technical. He believes that in order to be a successful handicapper one must be a well-rounded handicapper, meaning it’s critically important to blend all three forms into the handicapping equation. Marc relies heavily on a powerful database that allows me to query scores, stat and results of games played since 1980 in College and Pro Football, along with College and Pro Basketball. By being able to identify and recreate identical situations, and checking them against the database, he has come to rely on similar results created by this technical ‘cause and effect’. It’s like Winston Churchill once said, “The farther back you can look the farther forward you can see.” Applying these findings to statistical and fundamental matchups makes for a solid handicap. By applying ‘value’ to the handicap we learn to win in the long run. And winning, in the long run, is what it’s all about.

Marc also believes that fatal mistakes are made by players who fall in love with a certain team(s). The bottom line is they are all ‘machines’ and our job as handicappers is to identify those that are well oiled and hitting on all cylinders, and conversely those who are not. His primary focus is isolating on winning teams in underdog situations that have a good chance of winning the game in straight-up fashion. If they do, you win. If they don’t, but play well, you still win. If they do neither, you lose. I like those kinds of odds. Hence, Marc lives by the ‘Woody Hayes’ theory of handicapping. Hayes’ contention was that when you pass the ball, three things can happen and two of them are bad. When it comes to handicapping sporting events, three things can happen when you bet on a favorite, and two of them are bad. Conversely, three things can happen when you bet on a dog, and two of them are good. Think about that the next time you’re convinced a favorite can’t lose.

He lives his life by the GOLDEN RULE and applies it to his business practices as well. Nothing, absolutely nothing, overcomes dedication, experience, hard work and information. Together they help one make informed decisions. When it comes to Sports Handicapping Marc is truly one of the hardest working professionals in the industry. Because of his desire to be the very best handicapper he can possibly be, and his work ethic, he continues to burn the midnight oil working 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week. The last time he took a vacation was on his 25th wedding anniversary over 25 years ago. Marc has learned over the years that the harder he works, the luckier I get… and he’s a real lucky guy.